Abhiroop Das
Created by Robert Rodat, ‘Falling Skies’ paints a story of human resistance in the face of a near-insurmountable extraterrestrial enemy. Following an Espheni invasion that wiped out billions of innocent lives, historian Tom Mason, alongside many civilians and soldiers alike, joined the 2nd Massachusetts regiment, dedicating their hearts and souls to protecting humanity and defeating the aliens. With each season of this sci-fi action thriller series, Tom’s journey became more intense, as the revelations about the Espheni forced him to question his own humanity and that of his peers.
Season 5 of the show ends with him emerging victorious in a battle with the Espheni Queen, only to lose his wife, Anne, in the process. Refusing to give up, he seeks help from the Dornia, who ultimately resurrects Anne and her unborn child, steering the Mason family towards a happy ending. Despite the show enjoying popular and critical success, TNT decided to wrap things up with the fifth season, leaving many fans curious.
Showrunner David Eick Had Plans to End Season 5 on an Ambiguous Note
From the start, season 5 of ‘Falling Skies’ was intended to be the concluding note to the story. When TNT renewed the fifth season in July of 2014, it was explicitly announced as the final chapter, and showrunner David Eick later confirmed the same. As such, the decision to end the series was not due to an abrupt cancellation, but rather a creative consensus between the network and the crew. Actor Noah Wyle, who stars as the lead, Tom Mason, confirmed the same to Digital Spy, stating, “I’m happy that we got to write our own ending rather than just being cancelled in the off-season.” For the writing process, Eick reportedly approached the show through a Spielbergian lens, focusing on family and emotionality over action set-pieces and extended strategic warfare. With this framework as the driving force behind the iconic series finales, the crew penned the definitive ending to the story of Tom Mason and company.
Notably, the fifth season almost ended on an alternate, more ominous note, as Eick revealed in an interview with Screen Crush. While his original drafts for the ending maintained all the character beats, the final scene itself was meant to be different, tying into the critter bioweapon Tom used to kill the Espheni Queen. Eick explained, “In the original outline, (…) I had that critter disappear behind a pillar or something,” Tying this to Tom’s Lincoln Memorial speech, Eick continued, “And then when the camera dies back down at the very end of the episode, we find that critter, and he sort of scurries into the distance and we cut to black.”
While Eick’s idea for an open-ended and interpretive conclusion had its appeal, it was ultimately turned down by the TNT. When asked about the reasoning, he speculated that the executives likely did not want to continue the story in alternative formats, such as a TV movie or a spinoff series. While it is not uncommon for popular media to spawn spinoff entries, as seen in the case of similar post-apocalyptic shows like ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘Z Nation,’ the creators of ‘Falling Skies’ likely wanted to wrap up the entire story with the existing run of seasons. Furthermore, it is possible that budget constraints might have played a part in the decision to conclude the show, but no such indication has been made by the network as of writing.
Falling Skies Could Have Explained the Dornia’s Disappearance With a Sixth Season
Although the final season of ‘Falling Skies’ ties up most loose ends in terms of plot beats and character arcs, there are still some major questions that linger past the ending. The Dornia’s complete absence from the final sequence is undoubtedly among the show’s biggest mysteries, as her final appearance is tied to Anne’s resurrection. While she may be alive, chances are that she might have reincarnated as either Anne or her unborn child, but neither possibilities get its time to shine due to the limited timeframe. The Dornia may claim to be the last of her species, but that idea is never verified, and it is entirely possible that she may have lied and is actually preparing for another invasion of her own. The scrapped alternative ending by Eick only fuels the idea that the Dornia may be malicious, and a hypothetical sixth season could have explored that possibility.
In addition to being a classic alien-versus-human narrative, the series has also explored human development and empathy throughout its five-season run. This means that the show’s optimistic, but broad ending still has plenty of room for a deeper discourse on societal reconstruction. Tom turning down the offer to become world leader means that the writers have the opportunity to introduce new main characters into the mix, this time dealing with the aftermath of the invasion. There is also a slim, but relevant possibility of an attack by the Volm, as potential tensions have been teased since all the way back in season 3. The Espheni may be gone, but humanity’s fight is still far from over, and it is likely that the writers of ‘Falling Skies’ still had a lot left to offer, best indicated by Eick’s abandoned ideas for an ambiguous conclusion.
Read More: Falling Skies Season 5 Ending Explained: Does Humanity Defeat the Espheni?
